The vision for MISS MAIA (our why):

To help others (re)connect with their culture and turangawaewae - to help others feel strong in who they are - to ignite their inner power, authority and expression - to help others feel complete.

Today I had an epiphany....

I don't think I've ever really articulated with great clarity my 'why' or vision for MISS MAIA. I believe this is because I was going through my 'why'. My dad had passed away very suddenly from Cancer the year before launching MISS MAIA in 2019. 2018 was a complete blur, the trauma of reconciling my dads treatment (and us, his family) in the NZ health system especially towards the end of his life and also having regrets about not having enough time with him, or him getting to know his moko (grandchild), because we lived in Australia.

It was also one of the most profound years of reflecting on my own life, how I was spending my time, where I was putting my energy and what I was placing value on. In unpacking all these things I realised that I had lost my creative expression and so in a huge sense, I'd lost the essence of myself. This creative depreciation had been going on for years, even before dad passed away but I suppose sudden loss can make you see life clearer and act upon blindspots with a sense of urgency.

A lot shifted in the year after dad passed. I started MISS MAIA because it helped me to process the grief by expressing myself creatively and therefore reconnect with myself again. I understood that I needed to leave the comfort of my job of 7 years because it wasn't serving me and so I moved to another role with a company whose values aligned, with strong female leadership and work that had material impact on the financial futures of others. At the same time the MISS MAIA brand continued to grow and reach more people in Australia, New Zealand and overseas.

It felt good to be taking radical action both professionally and creatively. Being far away from whānau and Aotearoa I wanted to feel closer to my culture, my creative expression and home. Wearing the MISS MAIA jewellery gave me that feeling. When people started to learn about the brand, I realise now that others needed this too. The pandemic kicked off in Melbourne not long after I started my new role.

Our motivation for raising our son in Australia was to give him a good head-start in life and up until the huge disruption of the pandemic we felt like we were nailing that. Globally we all experienced a huge sense of loss in this time and for us, clarity (once again). We knew that a huge missing piece for our son was having physical connection to his whakapapa and so we made the decision to move back to Aotearoa in 2020.

I'm grateful everyday I get to show up in my business and create pieces that connect with the essence of our customers. I'm still working through our business goals for this year and it's the first year I've really hit a road-block with them. I think the lesson this month has been to take a step back and acknowledge the growth, get clear and buckle in for the year ahead. I feel in my bones that MISS MAIA will be hitting a 'new season or new phase 'over the next year and I'm so pumped for all the goodness and greatness yet to be explored.

 Thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting me share these pieces of me x